Well friends, November is in full force for Lucky Dog Animal Rescue. Between the last two weekends over 60 dogs were adopted out to new homes, and among them were two that I was AC-ing: Jethro and Rugby! Admittedly I felt less a part of Jethro's adoption because he found his furever family via our Lucky Dog Matchmaking Team, who works with adopters who don't quite have one particular dog in mind to place them with a pup they (and the adopter) deem a perfect match. I did, however, get to meet Jethro's adopters the day of his adoption amid my event coordinating responsibilities, and they were really nice and had two teenage boys perfect for helping him get his much needed border collie exercise!
The other happy bit of Jethro's adoption at this event: it introduced me to another pre-approved couple, looking for a smart, active, medium sized dog they could take running 2-6 miles daily. They had stated interest in meeting Jethro just before the event, however they could not attend the adoption event where Jethro went home for good with his adoptive family and missed out on him. Feeling sad that they had missed out on Jethro, I got in touch with their Matchmaking Coordinator and asked if I could help in any way. She happily asked for some recommendations, and I threw some her way. #1 being my boy Rugby, who inexplicably didn't have any serious applications in on him, and #2 being Pongo, the golden/lab mix that I have secretly admired for his good looks since starting with Lucky Dog (even though he was a little bigger than the 30-50 lb weight range they were looking for).
Pongo is one of those dogs who came to Lucky Dog nearly a full year ago, but following the holiday season couldn't seem to get a foster placement. He stayed in doggie daycare for a long time, and I had vowed to take him on as foster once we moved to our new place and get him to be my marathon training buddy. Thankfully for Pongo though, he didn't have to wait that long before he got a full time foster, and found his temporary home with an endurance sports enthusiast who was willing to run many miles with him, and help him grow into a well adjusted young adult. He even posted a video of Pongo's progress, and we Lucky Doggers were just so proud!
So, back to Jethro's would-be adopters. I got an email from their AC on Thursday night stating they wanted to meet Rugby. Which would be awesome news if not for the fact someone had literally contacted me hours before about setting up a meeting on Saturday with him and his foster mom and those wheels were already in motion (turns out Rugby got popular all of a suddden). I told her that if the meeting didn't go well, I'd contact them immediately about Rugby. The meeting went well, and Rugby's new parents emailed me to tell me they wanted to bring him into their family. I felt so happy for Rugby, but so sad that this couple had missed out on another dog (and that the dog they missed out on was another one of mine). Speaking of, Rugby is doing AWESOME in his new home and had a great first night, other than the fact that he is now officially a Redskins fan amid a 5-game losing streak. Below is a picture of Rugby and his dad watching the 5th of said losses yesterday. In any case, he looks pretty comfy. :)
HOWEVER, imagine my surprise and elation when I was leaving Sunday's adoption event and was informed that Pongo had the second half of a couple coming to meet him, interested in adopting him. About an hour later, we volunteers got an email that Pongo got adopted! And, I learned later, by the couple who had come to meet Jethro and then wanted to adopt Rugby!!!! All the dogs they missed out on, I have to believe, was designed for the very perfect and lucky reason that Pongo was fated to be their lucky dog. And I think I speak for many of the Lucky Doggers who have been around for most or all of the length of time Pongo has when we say our fingers are triple crossed for a long happy furever family life for him and his new puppy parents ready to embrace his active lifestyle!
In other news, I am back to full time fostering for the first time since May. And my goodness, I have fallen in puppy love with her. Her name is Sabrina, and she is an absolute doll baby who was abandoned by her owners in South Carolina before coming over to Lucky Dog. Sabrina loves other dogs and kids (loves to give them kisses) and loves to be near her people. She may also enjoy belly rubs more than any other dog I have seen. She sees you coming and flips over to mooch one! She's a total snuggle buddy and love bug, and really enjoys playing with other dogs at the dog park (though sometimes gets a wee bit afraid of the ones who are bigger than her). We're working on the leash, and she does by and large very well. But sometimes, only sometimes, when she doesn't feel like walking in a particular direction, she will flop herself down on the side walk and protest forward locomotion, which always presents a fun challenge in re-motivating her to walk again. She's doing very well with her house training and has already mastered the commands of "sit" and "down". She doesn't really discriminate against any toy, but she does like to take them apart if she can, chew off their tennis ball fuzz, or seek and destroy their squeaker. She and Ollie are getting along well as foster siblings (though there is an occasional disagreement over toy sharing) and I'd be lying if I said moments like this didn't make me want to cave to becoming a failed foster: 
